The Strongest Ties
by FANtom of the Opera
Summary: This is a one-shot taking place after Never Fade (so spoilers!) in which Ruby finally decides to meet her parents one last time. But she learns that those whom you love the most can hurt you the most, and your strongest ties can give you the strongest falls.


**(A/N): This is what I think would happen if Ruby met her parents after the events of _Never Fade _to see them one last time. Not really sure how this will go but whatever ;) **

**I NEEDED LIAM IN THIS SO DON'T JUDGE ME. I LOVE LIAM. YOU LOVE LIAM. EVERYBODY LOVES LIAM.**

There are so many things I could say in this moment, but don't.

My heart pounds like mad as Liam drives past the house. "It's that one," I say softly, and he slowly reverses. I knew I wouldn't be prepared for this moment, but the pain in my heart only grows deeper and darker as he pulls up in front of it.

Here it is.

The memories flash clear and vivid in my own mind, though they are nothing in theirs. It hurts to imagine my parents calling the PSFs, telling me to leave, their eyes hazed over with confusion and disbelief and anything but the love I needed. The love I _craved, _even.

So much has changed since I broke out of Thurmond, and since I met Liam and turned my entire life on its side. Though I wouldn't change him—or _us—_for the world, I still feel a dull ache in my stomach when I think of my parents and what I did to them.

It's times like these when I fully accept the reality of this world we have to call home. No one is safe in a place where children can hurt their parents like I did, where power is uncontained and fear runs rampant. Maybe that's where these camps came from—the government was scared of us, and they needed power over us, so they shipped us out. At that time, it may have seemed like the right decision, but now, I can acknowledge it as the beginning of the end that it was. That it became.

"Okay," Liam says. "Here we are." He taps my shoulder reassuringly. "You're sure you want to do this, right?"

_No. I'm not. Actually, I really don't want to do this. I definitely don't. We should probably turn back. Thanks though, Liam. We tried. _"I guess so," I say with a shrug. "We came all this way. And besides, the others are waiting." _All _of them were waiting—Chubs, Vida, Cole, and the others, who needed us more than we needed them. We were ready to make a game plan, and ready to save this crumbled up world. But I needed to say farewell to this part first.

This had been entirely Liam's idea from the start, and I still wasn't fully ready to vouch for it. "It's for the best, Ruby," he encouraged. "You haven't seen them in forever. It's best to get some closure. So you know that they're happy."

I didn't really see it that way. To me, this felt like entering a nuclear disaster zone. I was admiring the damage I'd done, skirting along the sidelines of a battlefield smattered with blood. But at the same time, I wanted to see them. I wanted to see their faces, know that they were okay, know that they could go on and _were _going on without me.

_They're my parents. _I wince inwardly. When had I become strong enough to do this without them? To carry on without my dad's hand on my shoulder or Mom's feather kisses on my cheeks?

I sigh. "I'm afraid, Liam."

"Of what?" His eyes, still captivatingly blue, bulge with innocence. "There's nothing to be afraid of. You've seen the worst in this world, Ruby. And there are worse things to come." He leans in until I can feel his warm breath on my cheek. "Think of it as facing your fears. Of closing one last door. And I'll be right here for you, whenever you're ready. I promise."

A soft grin flickers across my face, and I lean in to press my lips to his. It is a light, lingering kiss, and I drown myself in everything that is _him _until time slips away between us. He trails one of his fingers down my cheek. "Go," he whispers, and it echoes in my mind as I open up the car door and take shallow steps towards the door.

_What will I say to them? What _can _I say to them? _I envision the conversation in my head. _Hi, you may not remember me but I'm actually your daughter who accidentally erased your memories of me when I was little. So, how's it going? Are you alive? _It's laugh-worthy, but the grim feeling in my stomach stops me from doing so.

My eyes don't leave the flowers growing on either side of the sidewalk leading to my door. My mother loved gardening; this much I remember. I used to sit and watch her while she gave life to the earth, balling clay and dirt in her hands and gently lowering seeds into the ground. "If you or I can do this one thing for the earth," she used to tell me while wiping her hands of the soil, "then our lives are worth living."

I take a deep breath as I reach the door. It is freshly painted. A fresh coat of red adorns the splintering wood. _This is it. I'm going to see them. I'm going to see what I did to them. _Just before I ring the bell, I think again about why exactly I'm doing this. Why I'm allowing all of the emotions to resurface and twisting the knife in the festering wound. But somewhere deep and almost unperceivable in my heart, I need this. I need to believe that they're happy without me, so that I can leave them—this time maybe forever.

This is the last tie I need to cut.

I push into the doorbell, and I hear chimes reverberate around the house. The sound of footsteps draws nearer as someone says, "Blast it, who is it now?"

The door opens.

Shock steals the breath from my lungs as I stare into my mother's face. I've lost count of the years it's been since I saw her last, but I still see the signs that she is mine: her dark hair, though woven in with graying strands, is swept over her shoulder in a messy braid, and her face is aglow, though wrinkles crease her forehead.

She rests her hands on her hips. "Well?" She demands. "What do you want?"

I freeze. "Um, hi, I—"

"If you're selling anything, we don't take it here." I almost laugh at that. Mom never took kindly to solicitors. She hated them, in fact. "It isn't as if we don't have the time to go and buy our own things without them bruising up our door," she used to say.

"No, I'm not selling anything," I say quickly. "I just…" I peer into the house and see a row of pictures on the mantel. "I just wanted to see how you were."

"How I am?" Confusion spreads over my mother's features. "I don't suppose… Who are your parents? You're not supposed to be out here all alone. These aren't the best of times."

There's a rumble on the lower floor, and I hear the clattering of boots on steps. It's _my father. _He clears his throat and looks at the door. "Who is it?" He asks.

"I don't know," my mother says quickly, turning to look at him. "Someone's child. Maybe you can place her."

My father walks up to the door, and my heart burns. The tips of his hair are turning gray slowly, and his uniform is slightly rumpled. Other than that, he's the same dad who tossed me and turned me and threw me up to the sky, who read to me at night during storms and who tousled my hair for good luck before a performance.

God, I _missed _my dad.

He cocks his head halfway through the doorframe. "Hey," he says, and his voice is so warm and familiar that I take a step back. "What's your name? I'm from the police. We'll take you up to the station, if you need—"

I shake my head. "No, I'm fine. I was… I was just leaving." I start to retreat. I've seen all I wanted to. They're fine without me. They don't need me here.

"Hey, wait, what're you leaving for?" My mother calls. "You just got here."

But I'm already exiting the porch, reaching the first step.

And my entire world stops in its tracks.

"Mom, who's at the door?"

My feet stumble over each other and I skin my knee at the bottom of the steps. I know I should go, but I can't help but stare at the girl who comes bounding down from the top floor. Her hair is curly and dark, wrapped up in the same bun that Mom used to put on _me _to keep my hair in line. Her eyes are blue, almost like Liam's, but nowhere as deep and endearing. I want to leave, but something about her holds me in my position.

Mom turns to face her, and when she speaks I can hear the smile in her voice. She clutches the girl close to her chest. "It's nothing, Ruby," she says gently, and kisses the girl on the forehead. She then faces me. "Are you okay?" She rushes out of the door and down the steps. Her eyes widen when she seeks my scraped kneecap and she traces her finger lightly down the front of it. "Oh, let me get you something, that looks pretty bad—"

Ruby watches from the door with wide eyes. I need to leave. This isn't my house anymore, and I finally recognize that. Maybe it never was. I try to stand, wincing. "No, I'm fine. I was just going, like I said."

As I limp towards the car, I hear my mother say one more thing. "Hey, what's your name?"

I turn and look at her one last time. My heart breaks all over again to see her standing there the same way I always remember her, with a streak of defiance but no shortage of motherly love. I think of how much she must love Ruby, _her _Ruby, and all of the memories she must have created with her new child to replace the ones of mine I stole.

"Ruby," I mumble, and before I can stop myself, I stand and wrap my arms around her one last time. I know it's irrational and, admittedly, idiotic, and I can feel my mother stiffen in my embrace, but I can't help it. I kiss her cheek one last time. "I love you," I say fiercely. "I love _all _of you."

Before she can respond, I turn for the last time and stumble to the car. My leg stings, but I ignore the pain as I half sit, half fall into the passenger seat and tell Liam to slam the accelerator. We speed out of the community, and I keep my eyes trained on the ground. _Don't think about it don't think about it don't think about_

"Are you okay?" Liam says quietly. His hand is already snaking towards mine. I take it eagerly.

"Not really," I reply, trying desperately not to cry. This last piece of my past is fading from me. What happened to the old Ruby? Now that I look at myself, _really _look at what I've become, I see nothing of who I used to be. I wonder if I'd recognize myself if I looked at this Ruby from the past.

After a few more minutes of silence, I tell him. "They replaced me, Liam. They replaced me with another girl. Named Ruby."

For a moment, the car jerks as Liam tightens his grip on the wheel. "Oh, Ruby." More silence.

"They don't need me anymore," I say miserably, and I can feel myself sinking into a pit of self-pity, but I can't stop.

We keep driving for a little while before Liam makes a wrong turn. I shake his shoulder. "Hey, Liam, we were supposed to go right."

He smiles. "Just wait." He pulls into a curb and parks the car. Before I can even ask him what we're doing, he unbuckles his seatbelt and pulls me close to his chest. My hair tumbles over onto his shoulder. I can hear the steady pulse of his heart beside my ear. "Ruby," he says with a terse, determined voice, "listen to me. You are beautiful. You are _matchless. _There is no reason that _anyone _would want to replace you. _Ever_."

"But then why—"

"They are trying to cope with grief that they don't know exists. They don't consciously remember you, but in some part of them, they _know _that there was a Ruby in their life. They filled the void with another Ruby. Without her, they'd likely be crazy." He winces. "I would know what it feels like to know that something is missing, but to not know who or why or how to get it back."

I bury my head into his shoulder. I'm not going to cry for this anymore. I've shed enough tears for them, and it's time to accept that I'm never going to get them back. "They don't know me at all," I whisper. "I'm nothing to them. Maybe I never was."

"Hey." He rests his finger under my chin and tilts it up until we are eye to eye. "You know they loved you. _You know. _That's why this hurts so much. Those who love you most are able to hurt you the most. I can see it in your eyes, Ruby. You still hurt because of them. Your strongest ties become your greatest weaknesses. But sometimes ties are a good thing. They hold you down to Earth - keep you grounded." He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. "Because think about it. Without love to make us who we are, we are unfeeling. Better to love and die for it than to live a life unhurt but never know what it is to feel what I feel for you right now."

I smile. "I love you, Liam," I say, and I mean it with every bone in my body. "I love you a hell of a lot."

"I have that effect on people," he acknowledges, and kisses me again, kisses me _hard, _kisses me so that our bodies become one and I melt into his hug. In that moment, he becomes my everything. My guiding star when the night gets dark, my anchor to pull me back to shore.

Oh. Come to think of it, we also need to save the world.

But hey. That can come later.


End file.
